Hackathons are where programmers, developers, designers and others form teams to create, develop and deliver an application after 33 hours of non-stop effort.

Cereal Hack 2 competition starts at 9 a.m. Nov. 10 and runs straight through to 6 p.m. the next day. The contestants will be judged, and the winning team gets $2,000.

Hacker Lab held its first Cereal Hack on June 2-3. At least three viable companies were created, one of which won a coveted spot in a Berlin technology incubator.

Cereal Hack 2 will be held in Hacker Lab’s new digs at 1715 I St. Last month Hacker Lab moved from its 850-square-foot office in Curtis Park to a 10,480-square-foot building in downtown Sacramento.

Hacker Lab rents desks and office space to startups that range from software developers to web designers. The collective shares some equipment, and some of the tenants mutually support one another with equipment and expertise.

Hackathons are marathon events that are springing up across the country in technology hub cities. With the rise of smartphone and tablet applications, a team can actually produce a product — or even a company — after an extended session of programming and development.

Some teams come to the events to compete and other teams are formed spontaneously at the event, said Gina Lujan, founder of Hacker Lab.

The Cereal Hack name refers to a stereotype that software developers eat cereal — often right out of the box.

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